


March On, Worker Bees!

by ThisIsLizz



Series: Morning Keep the Streets Empty [2]
Category: Zombies Run!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 04:16:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20669177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisIsLizz/pseuds/ThisIsLizz
Summary: Mullins doesn’t really feel like a place...





	March On, Worker Bees!

**Author's Note:**

> For general info about this series and the update schedule, check out Part 1 of the Series, thanks :)

Frankie never really arrives at Mullins Base. Physically yes, she does.

She reports to the officers there, shows them the paperwork, and they assign her a job. Physically she’s there.

But not really.

Mullins doesn’t really feel like a place. Now that she’s been out there for such a long time she doesn’t know how to be a part of the military machinery anymore. Or how to be part of a group. Or a _place. _It's weird.

She goes back to training, and the job she’s assigned is simple enough: Preparing huge cargo pallets for the helicopters to deliver. Tents. Water. Food rations. Blankets. Generators. Everything the people all over the country might need for the winter. They are a team of five and work in shifts. She doesn’t talk much to the others. They know her name is Frankie and she’s from Germany, so they assume her English is just not that good and that‘s why she mostly sticks to herself.

That’s fine by her, she doesn’t want to talk to them.

Mullins is big, bigger than the _Ocean View_ base. Bigger than the first base she stayed at, whatever its name was. So nobody cares that she spends her days off in the training facilities, running. And nobody cares that she doesn’t sleep much. And that she sometimes sees things that are not there, she sometimes sees the ghosts. _Kazim. Mihara. Sasha. Nesrin. Danny._ She’s just a small cog in a large machine. It’s difficult to adjust after all this time on her own, but at least she’s left alone.

Winter comes and brings heavy rain showers and snow. Supplies start to run short, and most days the helicopters are grounded. There is not as much to do. No cargo to prepare. She is assigned small jobs all over the base, but none of them keep her busy enough.

Frankie gets antsy. She is not physically exhausted when the night comes. She can’t sleep. And when she sleeps it‘s restless, frantic dream. She wakes up drenched in sweat, pulse racing, barely able to catch her breath.

She needs to get out. And she does.

With supplies running short, especially fuel, and the helicopters grounded, Mullins starts sending out Runners. In teams, equipped with guns and backpacks, they head out of the base every day by jeep, are dropped off at strategic points all over the surrounding area, running through the snow, trying to scavenge extra food and supplies, returning them to the jeeps.

Frankie signs up immediately.

She heads out with the other Runners for the first time just a few days later. They raid a pharmacy a few hours away. Kill some zombies that all wear Sasha’s face. Then they head back, their backpacks full of pills and cough sirup, feet burning from the last sprint, followed by the Undead, lungs on fire from the freezing cold air, fingers and toes on fire from the snow. Frankie sleeps dreamless.

She starts making deals with people in Mullins. Looks for specific books when she‘s out, tries to find this or that brand of soda, small stuff. Trades them in for a few hours of charging her iPod at the solar powered energy station. Trades them in for new headphones when the old ones break. Trades them for needle and threat to fix the small hole in her backpack. People seem to like her, or at least tolerate her. She doesn’t talk much, but she does her work and she does it well.

Word gets around that she is reliable, that even if it might take a while, she usually manages to get what people want her to get. And if she still sees ghosts and if she still sometimes starts screaming when bashing in zombies‘ heads because suddenly it’s not a zombie but Mihara in front of her eyes, and if she still wakes up from nightmares every other day, screaming in horror, well, they don‘t know and Frankie isn‘t going to tell them.

She develops a sort of routine after a while. She runs out on missions with some other people as often as she can, she comes home and runs more, she gets a little sleep, she wakes up and works out, she goes on missions, rinse and repeat.

More days than not, the ghosts run with her.

There is a week of snow storms in early spring and nobody gets to leave the Base. Frankie keeps busy by preparing pallets for the helicopters way in advance, to make sure they are ready as soon as the snow lets off and they are no longer grounded. She also does inventory with the kitchen, she trains hand to hand combat. She finds a broom in one of the storage closets and sweeps floors whenever nobody is around to see her. Some of these floors don't need sweeping. But getting a bit more physical work done, and thus getting a bit more tired, is never a bad page in her book.

Two weeks after the snow storm, she‘s back in the cargo hangar. The helicopters are flying again, and now there is a lot to do. Frankie packs a bunch of tents with a few other soldiers and two civilians (a man and a woman) who have experience in aviation and oversee the loading, when a senior officer approaches them. They stand. They salute. Even the civilians stand.

The officer nods at them.

"Bergmann?" he asks, clearly not knowing for sure which of them is the person he‘s looking for.

Her heart jumps. What could he possibly want from her? She is doing her job, she is doing _more_ than her job. She‘s always following the rules as best as she can. She never gets into any trouble, or any fights. She‘s never done anything wrong here at Mullins. Except ... What if they know? What if they _know_?! But there is nothing she can do about it now. If they kick her out, well, she will have to go somewhere else. Back out there with the zombies. Where every evening all she can do is pray that the next day the streets will be empty. That there will be no zombies. No maniacs trying to kill her. No ghosts.

"Yes, Sir," she steps forward. The others are sharing looks, clearly curious what all this is about.

"A word," is all the officers says, and she follows him outside.

It‘s still cold, there is still snow lying, but it‘s getting a bit warmer and brighter every day. Finally. Spring is not yet here, but it‘s close. The officer waits until she has closed the small side entrance to the hangar, watching her. Suddenly he nods, as in agreement to something. Frankie starts to hope. If he was about to kick her out he wouldn‘t look so happy, right?

"Bergmann, I‘ve heard about you. You have done extraordinary work, and exceeded expectations. You are familiar with the emergency tents we have been shipping out, are you?"

She nods. "Yes, Sir."

"And you have helped set up some of the barracks in sector C, correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And I‘ve heard you are doing good work as a Runner?"

She‘s not sure how to answer that, and lands on "I try to do my best, Sir."

"Very diplomatic," he chuckles.

A military vehicle passes by, a few civilians sitting on the back of the truck. They are new recruits. People who came to the base for shelter and are now assigned a job to carry their weight. Some of them are pale. Frankie wonders for how long they‘ve been outside. Maybe the whole winter? 

The officer follows her glance. "They have been assigned to help in the restoration of the supply shed in Sector D. The one that got damaged in last week's storm." He turns to her again. "There is a job that needs to be done. Soon." 

"Sir?"

"A very important job. We have been looking around and your name was mentioned a few times. Reliable. Hard working. Silent. Not someone who runs her mouth, is what a lot of people say. That’s what we need."

Is that a nice way of saying she is a social recluse? Well, if so, that sounds about right. And another job will keep her busy. And honestly she is just happy she has not been found out.

"What job?" she asks.

Instead of answering he looks around again, watching a family of civilians hurry to the kitchens, probably on cleaning duty. They look exhausted. Everyone here does look exhausted to some degree. Especially the civilians.

The officers waits until the family has closed the kitchen doors behind them, before he speaks. "Bergmann, have you heard of _Project Greenshoot_?"

Should she? "No, Sir."

"Now you have. Congratulations, soldier, you have just been promoted. Report to the helicopter bay tomorrow at 0800 for duty. Bring basic equipment. You’ll be flying out."

Wait, what is he talking about? _Project Greenshoot?_ She‘s never heard of it. And he hasn‘t explained ... well ... _anything_. But she hasn‘t been found out. Frankie is still Frankie. She is still here, and if she has a chance to get something to do, a chance to keep busy, to get some sleep at night, she is going to take it.

"Yes, Sir," she says and salutes.

He salutes as well, and walks off.

Frankie carefully packs all the possessions she has. The iPod, Robin’s leather jacket, some spare clothes. She goes for a run after dark in the trainings area to make sure she can get a little sleep.

She is at the meeting place five minutes early, with all her things, her rifle, her gun, and the baseball bat.

She doesn’t know the tall woman who greets her there, but she seems to be a civilian. A high ranking civilian though, by the way she holds herself, and everyone around her seems to go out of _their_ way to be … well, not in _her_ way. Frankie salutes when she gets there, just in case.

The woman just nods, and then pulls her a few steps away so they can talk without the cargo crew and the pilot overhearing them.

"Your mission is top secret, soldier," the tall woman, who still hasn’t introduced herself, says. "You are to be sent to Abel Township, a small settlement of survivors. They, like other similar groups, receive supplies from us from time to time. Your official mission is to go there with the supplies in this helicopter, and help set up some tents and trailers. They have recently had an influx in survivors so they need it."

"What‘s the inofficial mission?" Frankie dares to ask.

"You will be briefed on sight at Abel Township."

"Who is my contact?"

"That is confidential. Your contact will approach you about _Project Greenshoot_. Until they get in touch with you, stick to the official mission."

It sounds fishy. She can‘t help but think it sounds suspicious. She might be part of the military system now, but she hasn‘t forgotten. She does remember London. And Greenshoot does ... well ... have the word _shoot_ in the name already, doesn‘t it? It‘s not Project Green_peace. _If _Project Greenshoot_ is something... terrible, she has to find out about it. And ... and what?

Stop it?

Hah, no, she can‘t even stop the ghosts, or stop the nightmares, or stop being constantly afraid.

No, she can‘t stop it.

But maybe she can... warn someone. Get someone else to stop it. Or... or she can run. And get far far away before it happens... whatever happens... So she should try to find out about this secret project. To maybe get an advantage. To survive a little longer.

Why? She doesn‘t even know.

"Transport goods to Abel Township and help with the setup," she repeats the order. "Then wait for my contact to brief me about _Project Greenshoot_."

The woman nods. "Good luck, soldier. Don‘t disappoint us."

Should she say something? Like .... like ... _I won‘t_? Or should she ask who "us" is? Probably not a good idea, so she does what she always does when she is unsure of what to say. She nods. That seems to be enough, because the tall woman excuses herself and leaves without another word.

Fifteen minutes later, Frankie is on board of helicopter JA59, loaded with supplies, and together with the pilot is heading out to Abel Township.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for reading! :)
> 
> The first chapter of the next part will up on Thursday (September 19th).
> 
> Oh, and make sure to check out my blog (collected-sports-bra.tumblr.com) for updates and sneak peaks into upcoming chapters.


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